CADEN HAYNOR / ASST. NEWS EDITOR

As USD students approach the end of the school year, many look ahead to where they plan to live this upcoming fall. All current residents, students abroad and students on a leave of absence received messaging throughout February about the housing application’s availability and deadlines. 

Housing rates are also set to increase for the 2025-2026 school year.  According to the USD housing website, housing rates will increase by about 5% for students required to live on campus, first and second year students, and by about 8% percent for students not required to live on campus. The USD Residential Life website explains these increased rates.

“Housing rates will increase by ~5% for required students and ~8% for non-required  students for the 2025-26 academic year due to market research,” the Residential  Life  website spells out.

This market research reflects the rising costs in San Diego’s rental market, as well as operational costs and demand. These increases in spending have worried some students looking to pay for housing next year. USD first-year Madeline Li, who will be living on campus next year, reacted to these increased rates.

“The school has been raising all of these prices recently which makes no sense because we are already paying so much to go to this school,” Li said. “I am not completely caught up on school spending, but I feel they should not be charging more for housing. I know there are students who are struggling to find housing next year.”

The Residential Life department at USD  responded to worries like these about housing availability and costs on campus.

“Like most institutions, USD does not have enough housing inventory to meet every student’s needs,” Residential Life stated. “However we do our best to maximize our ability to support as many students as possible. We do this by striving to make student housing on campus less expensive than rental rates off-campus and we will continue to work to keep our housing rates competitive.”

At USD, the cost of on-campus housing is occasionally higher than off-campus options, but the comparison depends on factors like location, amenities and lease terms. 

The USD website gives certain criteria that students must meet which requires first and second years to live on campus. While the number of residents per living space has increased over the past couple years, there are still students who have had difficulty finding housing for the upcoming school year. USD first-year Henry Dall, along with three of his first-year friends, do not know where they are going to live next year.

“Housing said that they don’t have spaces for us to live next year,” Dall stated. “We’re thinking of living in a house or something. We were thinking about maybe getting a golf house anyways, but this might force us to.”

Students are also unsure about the different ways to pay for housing  on  campus  and if  there  are ways in which free or discounted housing is available to those who need it. Mason shared her ideas on how the school can better communicate and create housing payment resources to students.

“I think the school should make it easier to learn about payment  for  housing, like if there’s scholarships [students] can apply for,” Mason explained. “A lot of my friends have become residential assistants just to avoid the housing payment because it is a lot.”

Another factor worrying students is delayed confirmation about where they will be living next year. Li spoke about her experience  with  the delays in USD  Residential Life’s responses.

“Our housing was delayed about a week, and we only heard back after a week because one of my friends, who was the coordinator of our neighborhood, emailed housing to get a response,” Li explained. “All of my friends know I was super stressed while we were waiting for a response.”

The communication about available resources from Residential Life has been brought up as scarce by USD students who are unsure about where they can live and when they can apply for that housing. USD sophomore Brooke Fitz Cluster, who will be studying abroad in Madrid next semester, felt uninformed about where she can live when she returns to school after study abroad.

“They did so many things to make us know how to do housing in freshman year, but as I’ve progressed, they have not told me much which is annoying,” Fitz Cluster said. “They don’t have many resources for those studying abroad. It seems like they make you figure it out when you’re abroad, which is kinda scary because I  don’t  know where I’m living when I come back.”

Housing at USD does send updates and information on when to apply, reminders on social media and communication by Residential Assistants and Community  Directors. Residential Life broke down the different types of updates students have received this semester.

“Students were emailed updates through the month of February   indicating  that next steps  for housing (roommate group selection and then apartment selection) would occur in late March and April,” Residential Life explained. “Information with specifics about this was then sent to all applicants approved for next steps in the process the week of March 31. Students who applied for neighborhoods were contacted in the middle of March via email with additional information approving or further considering their neighborhood applications.”

There are resources available for those students who are unable to get housing with USD for the subsequent school year. USD Residential Life explained some of the ways that students can find roommates and housing off campus in areas that are not directly   affiliated  with the school.

“Resources include an off-campus roommate finder, where students looking for roommates off-campus can put in their information and make contact with each other,” Residential Life stated. “USD Graduate and Law Student Commons also provides summary information and data about surrounding communities where graduate and law students tend to live, and undergraduate students can utilize this information as a resource as well.”

As a result of the housing crisis, new residential areas are being built around San Diego to support college students. Private companies have already begun construction on residential areas near San Diego State University. Nico Posehn, a USD first-year student, shared what he is looking for in these types of housing options.

“As [new housing complexes] start to emerge, I would honestly care more about its affordability than what it looks like,” Posehn said. “I think it’s a great idea for companies to start looking to college students as potential buyers and actually serving their need for cheap housing not related to their school.”

As USD students anticipate their residential situations next year, many wait in anticipation for the emails confirming where they will be living, how much they will have to pay and who they will be living with.

Students live on campus in residential halls across campus.

Jason Wu/The USD Vista